The Louisiana House of Representatives on Friday passed a controversial resolution that directs law enforcement not to have contact with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group that advocates for Muslims internationally.
NOLO reports that the resolution does not carry the weight of the law, so law enforcement organizations can consider the resolution a recommendation rather than a mandate. But several House members — many of them members of the Legislative Black Caucus — who said they were concerned the resolution was designed to malign what they consider a civil rights organization.
But the bill’s author, state Rep. Barry Ivey, said he was just trying to align Louisiana law enforcement with the FBI, which cut out formal contact with CAIR after a 2007 trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. During the trial, according to an Office of the Inspector General report, evidence emerged indicating CAIR had ties to Hamas — considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. Government.